The 6th Congressional District Democratic candidates responded to a question from the Swampscott Tides, noting the importance of working with local leaders to ensure local implementation of federal regulations and support.

The 6th District’s congressional seat is up for grabs after Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) announced he would challenge Sen. Edward Markey in the Democratic primary ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The field includes six Democrats — Bethany Andres-Beck, John Beccia, Jamie Belsito, Dan Koh, Mariah Lancaster and Tram Nguyen — along with Republican Micah Jones.

Koh was the first to acquire 2,000 signatures, with Nguyen securing her spot at the end of April and both Belsito  and Lancaster making the ballot last week. Swampscott resident Rick Jakious recently announced he was no longer running for the position. 

The Swampscott Tides’ question was posed during Thursday’s debate. 

“As the public health professional in this race, public health especially is near and dear to me, but it is just one piece of the many pieces of infrastructure whether we’re talking local, state, that needs deeper investments,” Mariah Lancaster said. “There’s a couple different approaches to this that all need to work together. One, obviously, is the actual funding for programs…(freshman representatives) need to network with other members of the House and you need to all start advocating for each other’s projects as well. Collaboration and community building amongst the representatives is a really big way to actually bring the priorities that we need for the district home.”

The Candidates

Lancaster is a veterinarian, who previously worked as a congressional aide. Lancaster also served as a foreign affairs officer at the State Department, working against environmental crime and corruption. When Republicans took over Congress, Lancaster moved into non-profit government affairs work. Lancaster recently called for the abolition of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), following the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis. The 36-year-old candidate identifies as non-binary.

“I’m running for Congress because in order to represent working people, we have to send working people to Washington,” Lancaster said. “I spent the pandemic as an essential employee, working in veterinarian hospitals, helping families in times of crisis. What I saw in the clinic and what I know from personal experience managing my own chronic health conditions is that our health care system is fundamentally broken for our pets and for us.”

The Debate

The Swampscott, Nahant and Marblehead Democratic Town Committees hosted the candidate forum on Thursday, May 7 at the Swampscott High School. 

James Peterson, the co-vice chair of the Swampscott Democratic Town Committee, moderated the event.

The Marblehead Current asked the candidates about Moulton and what he could have done better. 

Lancaster noted that Moulton “chose his people very wisely and built the team around him that could do the work.”

The Lynn Item asked candidates about concerns on whether Congress’ influence is diminishing.

Lancaster talked about coalition building and how a freshman member of Congress needs partnerships. 

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